By Carol L. O’Riordan We believe that the various government contract programs that give a degree of preference to disadvantaged groups are a good idea, and we work hard to put our clients in a position to benefit from them, but we also recognize that they can be abused. Two years ago, we wrote in...
It’s Time to Amend Federal Law to Protect Email Privacy
By Pamela J. Bethel A broad coalition in Congress is attempting to amend the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) by establishing a uniform search warrant requirement that the government must follow if it wishes to ask a third-party service provider, such as Google, to disclose the content of an individual’s emails. In order to obtain your...
Texas Court Was Right: These Internal Reports Enjoy Absolute Privilege
Companies that prepare internal reports at the request of the Department of Justice, discussing the likelihood of criminal violations, should be able to benefit from absolute privilege that shields them from defamation suits brought by people named in the reports. That is what the law should be; otherwise, companies would not feel free to conduct...
Employers Beware: D.C. Beefs Up Enforcement of Wage Laws
By Anthony Marchese Last year, the District of Columbia amended its Wage Theft Prevention Act, as well as other local labor laws that apply to companies with workers in the District. The stated purpose of the changes, which took effect in February 2015, is to increase the remedies, fines, and administrative penalties and to beef...
D.C. Making Changes to Its Small Business Preference Rules
On February 26, 2015, the District of Columbia’s Department of State and Local Business Development (DSLBD) made an announcement requesting public comments on recent changes made last fall to the D.C. local law concerning contract preferences for small businesses and other “Certified Business Enterprises” (CBEs). These changes were made by the Small and Certified Business...
SBA Changes Contract Qualification Rules for Small Businesses
As we noted in an earlier blog post this month, the Small Business Administration has released a proposed rule that would affect, in several ways, the operation of several special business preference programs for federal contracts. These include the 8(a) program for disadvantaged small businesses, the HUBZone program for businesses in historically underutilized business zones, and...
New SBA Rule Would Help Small Businesses Qualify for Federal Programs
By Carol L. O’Riordan The Small Business Administration has released a proposed rule that would affect the operation of several special business preference programs for federal contracts, such as the 8(a) program for disadvantaged small businesses, the HUBZone program for businesses in historically underutilized business zones, and the program to aid businesses run by service-disabled...
SBA Proposes New Mentor-Protege Program for Small Businesses
The Small Business Administration, which has the mission of expanding federal contract opportunities for various types of small businesses while continuing to work to prevent fraud in these programs, is proposing to establish a government-wide mentor-protégé program for all types of small businesses, parallel to the existing mentor-protégé program under the SBA’s 8(a) business...
If VC Industry Needs to Find Women and Minorities to Fund, We Can Help
By Carol L. O’Riordan We frequently write in this space about the dearth of minorities and women in many sectors of the economy and about the need to raise those numbers both for reasons of equity and for good business reasons. That is why a current Washington Post article on diversity in the venture capital...
O’Riordan Bethel Receives Award for Its Work for Virginia Agency
At the 2014 Annual Breakthrough Breakfast of the Women Presidents’ Educational Organization (WPEO) at D.C’s .J.W. Marriott Hotel on December 4, 2014, O’Riordan Bethel received the Access Public Sector Award in recognition of its work with the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Department of Minority Business Enterprise. The WPEO is a national women’s business organization that promotes...